HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Eddie Johnson

The Dallas Mavericks have now joined the party that the Lakers and Suns started a few weeks ago. Although I love Jason Kidd and he will undoubtedly make the Mavericks a more focused and tougher team, I don’t think it will put them in the rarified air of Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Antonio and for one specific reason only… They still have no interior offensive threat that will get them consistent inside points and force teams to double team, thus allowing Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard to flourish.

Kidd will definitely get them better shots, but the question is… Will he still allow them to get more possessions? Yes, he is probably the best rebounding pure point guard in the history of the NBA and a walking triple-double threat every time he hits the floor, but losing DeSagana Diop in the deal has effectively taken away a long defender and a rebounding asset the Mavericks will need against the Lakers, Suns and Spurs.

Erick Dampier will have to really step his game up to levels we have not seen and that scenario must have Avery Johnson worried. Brandon Bass has been a nice surprise, but they cannot count on an unproven player come playoff time – especially against Tim Duncan, Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol.

The Mavericks have now become the Phoenix Suns pre-Shaq. They will have to up-tempo the game to crazy levels to stay out of half-court situations.

Case in point… Who will Dirk Nowitzki guard on the Suns? They use to hide him on Shawn Marion, but that will not work on Grant Hill or Boris Diaw because both can take him away from the basket and make him defend against dribble penetration. Plus it effectively takes him off the defensive glass, thus making them vulnerable with only Dampier to rebound. Avery will have no choice but to put Dirk on Amare or Shaq and that scenario spells trouble for the Mavericks.

The same applies to the Lakers with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol with Lamar Odom at small forward. Avery will have to guard Bynum with Dirk because there’s no way can he defend Odom. The Spurs don’t create that much of a problem with only Duncan in the interior, but San Antonio will offset it with the great defense Bruce Bowen plays on Dirk.

Dallas will now have to rely on fast pace and quick shots to have any chance against not only the three teams I mentioned, but the New Orleans Hornets and Utah Jazz as well.

The Mavericks and the Warriors are now like mirror images and I don’t think either has the edge against the height and strength of the top teams in a seven-game series. But any given night, when they catch fire, they are going to look awfully good.

If the Suns have admitted that form of ball is pretty but not conducive to a championship. Why would the Mavericks take the same approach?

I must admit that it will be fun watching it all develop because Jason Kidd is the real deal on both ends of the court.

Welcome to the Wild Wild West.

A few weeks ago I heard about a potential deal the Suns might be involved in, but I brushed it off because around this time of year we hear all kinds of rumors. Then when the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol, my mind started to wonder and mainly because there are two teams that the Suns view as huge hurdles to the finals: the Lakers and the Spurs.

I again started to worry because it meant more Shawn Marion trade rumors and one more round of those rumors could really destroy any progress the Suns made since the Garnett discussions last summer with regards to the Matrix.

Well, here we are again and this time it’s a done deal.

Let’s get one thing straight before I talk about the value of this trade and give my five reasons why the Suns had to make a deal for Shaq and my five reasons why it could work… Shawn Marion is one the best people and players I have ever had the pleasure of watching and the Miami Heat will find out what working hard for 48 minutes is all about when the Matrix arrives in South Beach.

Marion leaves as one of the most consistent and popular Sun players ever and he will definitely be a candidate for the Suns Ring of Honor when he retires. Shawn is the best combination rebounder and defender in this league since Dennis Rodman and the Suns will have to find a combination of players to replace what Marion brought to the table every night in those hustle categories.

I also know Shawn well enough to say that he will indeed miss Phoenix, but he understands that being traded virtually head up for the most dominant player that has probably played is nothing to be embarrassed about.

Although the Matrix factor will be missed, the Suns had to do something.  Yes, they have the best record in the Western Conference. But something was not right. The dominance that we were used to see was not there on a consistent basis. We did not see the blowout games or the 20 to 4 runs that this team has spoiled us with over the last three years. The games seemed to be a grind and it wore on the fans and critics and caused us to think that maybe the Suns were becoming vulnerable. That, combined with the improvement of the Hornets, Nuggets, Trail Blazers and Warriors at the bottom of the pack, made a trip to the Finals look hazy and difficult.

So we also must assume the Suns front office and coaching staff had some of the same anxiety because they are extremely giddy at having the opportunity to put Shaq in a Suns uniform.

Here are five reasons why the Suns had to make this move for Shaquille O’Neal:

Steve Nash’s window of opportunity is closing

As each year passes, the Suns cannot expect Nash to continue to create offensively for everyone. Pushing the ball on the fast break is one thing, but having to run the two-man game 40 possessions every night against physical defenses will eventually take its toll. Nash deserves a chance to add a title to his two MVP trophies.

Spurs have never won back-to-back championships

The last time this scenario came to bear, the Dallas Mavericks used a physical combination of Erick Dampier and DeSagana Diop  to wear down the Amare-less Suns to move on to the Finals against Shaq and the Heat. The Spurs have showed signs of wear and tear and the Suns do not want to miss out again on this opportunity.

Lakers add Pau Gasol factor

The Lakers could have said we traded for Pau Gasol on Halloween because it scared everyone in the Western Conference. I don’t even play anymore and it scared me. Imagine the frontline of Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and Gasol. Then combine it with the athleticism and shooting of Kobe Bryant and it’s obvious how every team is saying, “Why is Phil Jackson so darn lucky and why can’t he suffer for long?”

Throw in Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Derek Fisher and Ronny Turiaf. The Lakers look like a championship team this year.

Suns are 2-6 against the top teams in the West

The Suns have beaten the Lakers without Bynum and they beat the Spurs early in the season. They are 0-2 against the Hornets, lost twice to the Lakers with Bynum and got beaten by the Mavericks. The major reason for the losses has been an inability to defend the paint and the lack of defensive rebounding. Proof lays in the stats of the teams interior players when they play the Suns. Bynum averages 21 and 12. Duncan averages 27 and 17. Chandler averages 15 and 15. All above their season averages. And if you want to look further, Al Jefferson, who plays on arguably the worst team in the league, averages 32 and 16 in two Timberwolves wins this season against the Suns.

Combine this with the foul trouble of the Suns best offensive player, Amare Stoudemire, and we see why the Suns chose to pursue Shaq.

The Portland Trail Blazers and the Greg Oden factor

The Blazers are the team of the future. If Greg Oden lives up to his promise and LaMarcus Aldridge and All-Star Brandon Roy continue to grow, the Suns will have another couple of big bodies to deal with over the next few years.

So now that I have given you why the Suns made the move, here are five reasons why it could work:

First let me say this… I have heard the comment about Shaq is a shell of himself so on and so forth. Give me a break. I predicted the Heat would struggle this year and it was not because of Shaq. It was because of the players Pat Riley surrounded him with. Riley basically signed and drafted players that can’t throw the ball into the post and most importantly did not strike fear in teams with their jump shooting ability. This can ruin any big man that is a threat to post up and be productive in this league, including one of the most dominant ever.

So it’s absurd to judge Shaq on what he has done this year. He deserves to be judged on what he can bring to the Suns.

Suns rise immediately to one of the most physical teams

Shaquille O’Neal is a wall. The most overhyped stat is blocked shot. What about deterrence and altering decisions with the ball?  The Suns are at the top of the league in blocked shots, but are viewed as a weak defensive team. The reason they blocked shots is because they got a ton of opportunities. Now that statistic will go down, but the opposition’s in-the-paint scoring will too. That means teams will take more jump shots and the Suns are better at that game than anyone in the league and now they also have the interior scoring of Amare and Shaq to boot.

The Suns are the worst defensive rebounding team in the league because they could not command space. Shaq will allow Amare, Grant Hill, Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, etcetera, to be better rebounders because he will eat up space and punish offensive rebounders with long outlet passes – thus allowing Nash and Leandro Barbosa to leak out.

Finally, Shaq will protect Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire from physical play. Players are physically afraid of him and he will punish you if you take shots at his teammates. I would love to see Robert Horry throw Nash to the floor with Shaq around to punish Parker or Duncan.

Three players that command serious defensive attention

Shaq, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire will cause teams to change their defensive philosophy during the course of the game, which is extremely difficult to do.

Case in point. How will teams defend the Suns when they run the high pick-and-roll with Amare? Normally teams will rotate the weak side big defender over to challenge him. Well, if that occurs you have Shaq on the weak block flashing in for a pass from Nash or a guard trying to block him out. If teams get silly enough to rotate a small player to Amare, then they allow Raja Bell or Leandro Barbosa to have wide open three-point shots on the weak side.

Mike D’Antoni can use his full playbook now with the back-to-the-basket dominance of Shaq.

Improve the running game

The biggest fallacy about the Suns and their running game is that Shaq will slow them down. I believe it will speed them up and give them more opportunities to run. I have already talked about possessions and the physicality Shaq brings to the Suns.

Now couple that with better confidence with your defensive rebounding – thus allowing Nash, Barbosa, Hill and Bell to run out earlier. The Suns could be even more potent. Also throw in Amare running more because of not having to fight and box out big centers.

I never saw Kareem Abdul-Jabbar running the lanes for the Lakers, but I did see him igniting it with rebounding and long outlet passes, and then coming down on the block with commanding presence.

Amare will become more dominant

Because of the matchup nightmare Shaq would bring, Amare Stoudemire will benefit the most.

Foul trouble should decrease and scoring and rebounding should go up. Also watch for his weak side defense to produce more blocked shots and steals. We have never seen what Shaq could do with a young dominant power forward beside him and he has one of the best in Stoudemire, who should be ecstatic at the chance to stop battling centers every night.

Nash can play without dominating ball

This might be the most important cause of the Shaq trade and here is why.

D’Antoni would love to keep Nash on the floor and use him off the ball, but he knows the offense would stall. The addition of Shaq and his great passing out of the post will allow the NBA’s best three-point shooter to spot up for periods during the game and punish defenses for doubling.

Case in point. Grant Hill throws it in to Shaq with Nash and either Barbosa or Bell on the weak side and Amare on the elbow waiting for the short jumpshot or the run to the basket if they double off of him.

This will destroy any defense and if Shaq stays healthy the Suns will be the team to beat come playoff time.

We are just over a month into the season and one thing is for certain, there are a number of leaderless teams in the league and a few I will identify are extremely surprising.

A coach wears a number of hats besides coaching his team. Father figure, policeman and fireman come to mind. He would much rather tell you he wants to coach and have a parental quality when needed, but he will be happy if he can place the responsibility of policeman and part-time fireman on one or, if he is lucky, a few of his players.

People ask me all the time why I have not gone into coaching. My normal response is that I have always been afraid that I might be too much of a disciplinarian and that method would be hard-pressed to accomplish if I were not coaching experienced and committed players who actually get it when it comes to the word Team.

Take for example some great coaches like Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson, Rudy Tomjanovich, Chuck Daly, Pat Riley and Gregg Popovich. These coaches would not have been successful if it wasn’t for the leadership qualities of the great players that played for them. None of these coaches would have won multiple championships if they didn’t have players accepting and wearing one of those hats for them so they could concentrate on coaching and preparing the team more effectively.

Imagine what a coach has to police in relation to players during an 82-game season. They have to make sure they show up to practice on time, work hard in practice, play together as a team, professionalism on and off the court, etcetera. So imagine how ecstatic a coach would be if he had players that took on that responsibility and allowed him more time to focus on team and strategy. Although a coach knows he will have to extinguish some personal and emotional fires during the season – players not getting along or unhappy about playing time and their role on the team – but he will have fewer fires to deal with because of the ability of his leaders to keep players focused and on a common goal.

Could you imagine a player getting out of line on the great Boston Celtic teams while Bill Russell was playing? I could not imagine someone on the Bulls getting out of control with Michael Jordan practicing and playing harder than anyone each and every game. What about a teammate not running the floor hard when Magic Johnson was pushing the ball up the floor or not being focused on his extreme passing ability? Magic once told me that he would hit teammates in the head with the ball on purpose because they took their eye off of him.

I wonder… Was it Rudy Tomjanovich who demanded the ball should go to Hakeem Olajuwon every time down the court during the Houston Rockets back-to-back championships or was it Hakeem, who led by example with supreme effort on both ends of the court?

When I look at some teams that are playing well or underachieving with talented players, you really need to look no further than the leaders among players before you blame the coach and general manager.

TEAMS WITH GREAT LEADERSHIP

San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are the ultimate role team. They are anchored by one the greatest players to ever play in Tim Duncan. No player steps out of his role because Popovich demands it and Duncan will not allow it to happen because of his unselfish nature and the fact that he allows Popovich to chastise him when he is not playing well, which sends a great message to the players who battle with him every night. Also don’t discount the secondary roles of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli. David Robinson, who established this method of unselfishness by taking a secondary role to Duncan at the end of his career, should receive a tremendous amount of the credit for the togetherness of the Spurs.

Phoenix Suns

Steve Nash is not only the best point guard in the NBA, but he is the most unselfish players since Magic Johnson. When you watch Nash play you can honestly say he plays no favorites when he passes the ball. If you are open you get the ball. Who in their right mind would not want to play with him? If you watch him closely during games he never chastises teammates openly and he encourages them with high-fives when they accomplish something on the court or makes a mistake and he never wavers. When you play with someone like this you will always accept his leadership and the Suns follow his every lead. Throw in the perseverance of Grant Hill and this team has a level of class that allows them to enjoy the game the way it should be played and fans around the league appreciate it!

Dallas Mavericks

Avery Johnson has force-fed Dirk Nowitzki on the importance of leadership and it culminated into an MVP season in 2006, Dirk has learned not only to involve and appreciate his teammates but also to give them credit publicly. Jason Terry supplies the energy and enthusiasm to go along with the no non-sense style of Jerry Stackhouse. Stackhouse is legendary around the league for straightening up a teammate verbally and physically if they step out of line. Every coach needs a physical presence able to intimidate some players into following rules and regulations.

Utah Jazz

I didn’t mention Jerry Sloan among the great coaches because he has not won a championship, but he belongs there and it will be a shame if he does not win a title before he retires. I mention Sloan because he might be the best coach ever at designating leadership among his players. He demands it with his unwavering demands in practice and games. Sloan, I hear, will fine a player if his jersey is not tucked in for practice. Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams share the leadership on this team and it has showed the last few years. Leadership has nothing to do with age or experience and these two players exude it with great effort for 48 minutes. Their teammates have followed. When you mention the word Team, the Utah Jazz have defined that example for the last 15 years despite not winning a championship.

New Orleans Hornets

No surprise this team has good leadership. Byron Scott has been as successful a coach as any in the league. This should not surprise you since he falls from the Pat Riley and Magic Johnson tree. Scott has been taught by the best at establishing what Team really means and now he has one of the best young leaders in the game in Chris Paul. Paul is quickly becoming the next Steve Nash and the Hornets will reap the benefits for many years to come. Paul’s ability to get players like Peja Stojakovic and others to play above their ability is proof of what a leader can do for the success of your team.

Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard is the most imposing force I have seen since Shaquille O’Neal and what’s scary is that he could put up better stats before his career is finished. What’s so scary about Howard is how quickly he has shaken his mechanical offensive nature into a fluid Human Terminator on the court. But what I really like about Howard is his friendly nature and pleasant smile. I don’t know if he realizes it yet, but that goes a very long way with teammates and their acceptance towards him. They now try every way they can to force-feed him the ball. I also like the tough no non-sense manner of Jameer Nelson, who has seen plenty of hardships already in his young life and still exudes tremendous confidence and determination – which travels far with his teammates.

Detroit Pistons

Detroit might have the best collection of leaders in the league and that is why despite their age they will still compete for a championship the next few years. When you watch Detroit play, I immediately think of the Celtics when Bird, Parish and McHale had gotten older but still competed with a savvy desire to fundamentally make you look bad although athletically you were a much better team. Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, Rip Hamilton and the young but old Tayshaun Prince give the Pistons self policing and a no non-sense attitude, which every coach loves. The reason we hear more grumbling in Detroit than most places is because most of these guys have a fierce desire to lead. And yes, it can cause headaches for Flip Saunders, but he will take the headaches knowing that when these guys hit the floor they will give everything they have to win the game.

Boston Celtics

I love Kevin Garnett. I didn’t love him enough to support giving up Amare Stoudemire last summer. But let me say this again, I love Kevin Garnett. I think he is the second best leader in the game next to Steve Nash. I criticized him in Minnesota because I thought he was too unselfish and never took over like he should have, but as we see now in Boston with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, he is in the perfect environment and I am so happy for him. He has a respect for the game and his teammates that drips off of him when you watch the Celtics play. The Celtics right now are the class of the Eastern Conference and, with all due respect to the talents of Pierce and Allen, Garnett is the driving force with his unselfishness to just try and win the game anyway he can. If any player deserves a championship, it’s Garnett. This scenario is the perfect example when I mentioned all the great coaches. Doc Rivers will go from being a lame duck coach to quite possibly grabbing his second Coach of the Year award. Now whose league is this again? It’s a players’ league and don’t forget it!

TEAMS WITH NO LEADERSHIP

New York Knicks

I have taken a lot of heat for this comment, but I will say it again. The Knicks have some of the best collection of talent in the league. But one important piece of the pie is missing and that has created the inconsistency we see from night to night in the Knicks. Who should I point the finger at? Most of you want to say the coach and general manager Isiah Thomas, but didn’t I just give you the example of Doc Rivers, who had a terrible record last year but is looked at pretty favorably now that he has Garnett and his great leadership?

It’s easy to point the finger at Stephon Marbury, but Eddy Curry, Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph and Quentin Richardson are all capable to lead and have not visually stepped up to the plate. The Knicks are so ripe to lead that Bo Outlaw could be acquired and become the best leader the first day he arrives and he would probably not play. That comment should embarrass every Knick player on that team. No way would any of the teams listed above have allowed Stephon Marbury to compromise the togetherness of the team by leaving them to battle the Phoenix Suns because the coach asked him to become a better leader on the floor and play better defense. Where was the fireman Isiah needed to talk to Marbury before he got on a plane and went back to New York?

Leadership comes from any position and it is not necessarily the point guard position, but if you want to take a high percentage of the shots and get all the accolades then you have to take pride in making it easy on your teammates to care for you and accept your dominance of the ball. Hopefully Marbury, who has had some major hardships this season off the floor, will take notice at the way the Knicks have bonded lately in his absence to play more like a team with their talent should play.

Chicago Bulls

It’s hard for me to come down too hard on the Bulls players about leadership, because I personally think everyone of them would be a role player on any of the teams listed above. If you look at the Bulls roster, I don’t think any of these players were the top guys on their college team when they got drafted. I believe they are still growing and sooner or later one of them will evolve into a powerful leader. But right now they have to do it by committee and they have failed miserably. The obvious choice is Ben Wallace because that’s what the Bulls thought they were getting, but they forget the reason Detroit did not cry too much when he left town. It was because Wallace was becoming a complainer of minutes and strategy and not privately but at times publicly of Flip Saunders. So now you have a hard-working talented team that has no big-time player leadership and because of it Scott Skiles has to wear the hat and that’s when players start to get tired of the coach.

Kirk Hinrich has to pick his head up and play like the guard everyone was thinking he would become after a solid first two seasons. He seems to be worried too much about missing shots than becoming a leader like Nash and Chris Paul. That will undoubtedly sink the Bulls further in the basement of the Eastern Conference.

Miami Heat

I never thought a team coached by Pat Riley struggle with leadership – especially when you have Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade on the roster. I said it last year in an article and I will repeat it again… This team put every ounce of energy into a title two years ago and they are done. Riley should have blown it up and traded everyone except Wade and Shaq after that season. The Heat won with a veteran-laden team two years ago and the energy level took a major hit. Shaquille is not a spring chicken and he needs youth around him to keep him fresh and inspired. I listed Miami because they are struggling, but I really do believe they have players that want to lead. But they are a tired group – other than Wade – and it seems that he better grab the bull by the horns or the Miami Heat will make yours truly look like a good prognosticator because I was the only one who predicted before the season that they would not make the playoffs this season.

Memphis Grizzlies

Pau Gasol needs to play up to his potential and stop trying to jump ship. That attitude will not allow him to lead the team, where he is presumably the best player. The Grizzlies have very good young talent, but like the Bulls will need to find a leader that can allow Marc Iavaroni to have a solid year evaluating his team and at least get them close to the potential he expects.

I saw this coming, but I did not think it would happen. I thought the inexperience of the Warriors would not allow them to pull one the greatest upsets ever in the NBA. When I saw the way the playoff ladder was shaping up the last two weeks of the season with Golden State and the Clippers fighting for the eighth seed, I thought “This is not fair.” Here you have a club in the Clippers that made the semifinals last year with the same identical team and the Warriors who also underachieved early, but were playing the best basketball in the NBA to end the season.

The Mavericks really set themselves up by trying to avoid playing the Warriors in the playoffs by basically throwing a game away at the end of the regular season, hoping that they would move up to the seventh spot. Avery Johnson sent a message to the Warriors and his team by sitting Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse in that key game for Golden State.

When the Warriors clinched the eighth seed, they entered the series with the psychological edge over the first seed – a team that won 67 games.

Here is why the Warriors had that edge and I wrote it a few months ago when I said the Suns were a better team than the Mavericks…

The Mavericks are a jump-shooting team with no inside scoring whatsoever. I have never seen a team win a title that had no inside-presence scoring. That’s why the Heat figured them out last year and eventually won four straight to get the title. They just took away their ability to make jump shots.

The Mavericks top four players are all jump shooters. Nowitzki, Howard, Stackhouse and Jason Terry get the majority of shot attempts and most come from 15 feet. The reason it has worked the last two years is because DeSagana Diop and Erick Dampier provided very good interior defense and offensive rebounding – thus giving a very good shooting team more opportunities.

The reason the Mavericks were so dominant this year is because they used their shooters differently than, for example, the Suns or Warriors. They used them in a half-court slow-down pace with one-on-one clearouts, two-man games and post-ups around the free throw line.

This allowed them to play non-scorers like Diop, Dampier and Greg Buckner, who would not have survived in an uptempo game. Thus we have the defensive and rebound presence.

This system was great against 27 teams during the regular season, but not so much against Phoenix and Golden State.

Those two teams force the tempo and play small with serious inside-the-paint scoring.

Avery Johnson changed his lineup and went small to start the series and was criticized – which I thought was unfair. He did the right thing, but realized something he already knew… His small guys could not compete with Golden State’s.

The Warriors not only have shooters, but their shooters are multi-faceted and that is something the Mavericks could not deal with.

Stephen Jackson, Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, Monta Ellis and Mickael Pietrus can all shoot from the perimeter, drive to the basket and post you up inside. That advantage and the Mavericks inability to post the smallish Warriors inside caused this massive breakdown.

So how do you fix the Mavericks?

Ask Mark Cuban again if he misses Steve Nash. A pass-first point guard who can score is what the Mavericks need. They waste too much time and energy getting off shots. A guard that can get Nowitzki and Howard wide open shots without having to bang and dribble would help. Terry and Devin Harris are off guards and always will be.

They also need to find a post player that can defend and rebound, but also with a good post-up game to command a double team every now and then. Having an enforcer that can score on the other side would do wonders for Nowitzki.

The Mavericks will see how Utah takes advantage of the smaller Warriors inside players with Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur and forces Don Nelson to play Andris Biedrins and maybe even Adonal Foyle – especially if Al Harrington continues to be the weak link as he was in the Dallas series.

(Utah in seven, but I am pulling for the Warriors).